How do I reset Windows Update components?

If you receive a Windows Update error, try the steps in Fix Windows Update errors. The steps and troubleshooters on that page will reset the Windows Update components for you.

How to reset Windows Update components manually

ImportantFollow the steps in this section carefully. Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Before you modify it, back up the registry for restoration in case problems occur.

To reset the Windows Update components, follow these steps:

Open a command prompt. To do this, use one of the following methods, depending on your version of Windows:

Windows 10: Press and hold (or right-click) the Windows logo button on the taskbar and then select Command Prompt (Admin). Select Yes when the User Account Control box appears.

Windows8.1 and Windows 8: From the Start screen, swipe in from the right side to display the charms, select Search, and then search for cmd. (Or, if you are using a keyboard and mouse, type cmd at the Start screen.) In the search results, press-and-hold or right-click Command Prompt, and then select Run as Administrator.

Windows 7 and earlier versions: Press the Windows logo key + R, type cmd in the Run box, and then press Enter. Right-click cmd, and then select Run as Administrator.

Stop the BITS service, the Windows Update service, and the Cryptographic service. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.

net stop bits

net stop wuauserv

net stop appidsvc

net stop cryptsvc

Delete the qmgr*.dat files. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:

If this is your first attempt at resolving your Windows Update issues by following the steps in this article, you should skip step 4 and go to step 5. You should follow step 4 at this point in the troubleshooting only if you cannot resolve your Windows Update issues after you follow all steps except step 4. (Step 4 is performed by the "Aggressive" mode of the Fix it Solution that was mentioned earlier.)

Rename the softare distribution folders backup copies. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.

Ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak

Ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.bak

Reset the BITS service and the Windows Update service to the default security descriptor. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.

At a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:

cd /d %windir%\system32

Reregister the BITS files and the Windows Update files. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.

regsvr32.exe atl.dll

regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll

regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll

regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll

regsvr32.exe browseui.dll

regsvr32.exe jscript.dll

regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll

regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll

regsvr32.exe msxml.dll

regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll

regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll

regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll

regsvr32.exe softpub.dll

regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll

regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll

regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll

regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll

regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll

regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll

regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll

regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll

regsvr32.exe ole32.dll

regsvr32.exe shell32.dll

regsvr32.exe initpki.dll

regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll

regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll

regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll

regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll

regsvr32.exe wups.dll

regsvr32.exe wups2.dll

regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll

regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll

regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll

regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll

regsvr32.exe muweb.dll

regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll

Reset Winsock. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:

netsh winsock reset

If you are running Windows XP, you have to configure the proxy settings. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:

proxycfg.exe -d

If you are running other versions of Windows, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:

netsh winhttp reset proxy

Restart the BITS service, the Windows Update service, and the Cryptographic service. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following commands. Make sure that you press Enter after you type each command.

net start bits

net start wuauserv

net start appidsvc

net start cryptsvc

Windows Vista only: Clear the BITS queue. To do this, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter: